by Marcia Dunn CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.  — Four astronauts embarked on a high-stakes flight around the moon Wednesday, humanity’s first lunar voyage in more than half a centuryand the thrilling leadoff in NASA’s push toward a landing in two years. Carrying three Americans and one Canadian, the 32-story rocket rose from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center where tens of thousands gathered to witness the dawn of this new era. Crowds also jammed the surrounding roads and beaches, reminiscent of the Apollo moonshots in the 1960s and ’70s. It is NASA’s biggest step yet toward establishing a permanent lunar presence. “On this…

by Mark Sherman WASHINGTON  — The Supreme Court seemed poised Wednesday to reject President Donald Trump’s restrictions on birthright citizenship in a momentous case that was magnified by his unparalleled presence in the courtroom. Conservative and liberal justices questioned whether Trump’s order declaring that children born to parents who are in the United States illegally or temporarily are not American citizens comports with either the Constitution or federal law. Arguments lasted more than two hours in a crowded courtroom that included not only Trump, the first sitting president to attend arguments at the nation’s highest court, but also Attorney General…

by Marcia Dunn CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.  — NASA fueled its moon rocket Wednesday for humanity’s first lunar trip in more than half a century, aiming for an evening liftoff with four astronauts. The three Americans and one Canadian waved and shaped their hands into hearts as they emerged from crew quarters to cheers and said goodbye to their families. The crowd applauded and cheered again as the astronauts boarded their astrovan for the nine mile (14-kilometer) ride to the launch pad. Commander Reid Wiseman thanked the throngs who gathered to see them off. “It’s a great day for us. It’s…

by Fatima Hussein and Mark Sherman WASHINGTON  — People spoke in whispers and craned their necks Wednesday as President Donald Trump broke with all sitting presidents before him and took a seat in the front row open to the public to hear a Supreme Court argument, he sat silently, hands in his lap. A man accustomed to the camera and the center of attention instead was a mute spectator, and the justices gave no acknowledgment of his presence. Still, it was a previously unheard of flex of presidential power and prerogative. He brought with him Attorney General Pam Bondi and…

by Mark Sherman WASHINGTON  — One of the first things an Argentine emigre did after her son was born in Florida last year was get him a U.S. passport. She saw the passport as tangible evidence that he’s an American. But now people like her are in a legal fight over President Donald Trump’s executive order that would deny U.S. citizenship to children born in the United States to people who are in the country illegally or temporarily. “It’s funny because I actually booked him for his passport application appointment even before he was born,” the 28-year-old woman said, as…

by Emeka Obasi Let me sound like General Muhammadu Buhari whose take away statement after he was sworn in as president in 2015 was : ‘I belong to nobody, I belong to everybody’. I am not a politician but my association with politicians taught me a lot. My dad belonged to the Nigerian Peoples Party in the Second Republic and rose to the position of Local Government Chairman under Dee Sam Mbakwe. When President Shehu Shagari visited Imo State, I could read his body language. The president respected Mbakwe. I have watched keenly, President Bola Tinubu’s heir, Seyi. What I…

by Prince Charles Dickson PhD Every generation of Nigerian politics likes to imagine that its quarrel is unprecedented, that its betrayals are original, that its intrigue is wearing a crown no earlier intrigue ever touched. But Nigerian politics is an old drummer. It changes songs, not rhythm. The names change. The costumes improve. The microphones get better. Yet the same questions keep returning like harmattan dust: What is opposition for? Is it a moral force, a strategic waiting room, or merely a branch office of the ruling instinct? To ask that question seriously is to walk back into the haunted…

by Melanie Lidman and Nicole Winfield TEL AVIV, Israel  — Israeli police prevented Catholic leaders from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to celebrate a private Mass on the Christian holiday of Palm Sunday for the first time in centuries, setting off a wave of criticism from the United States and others. Jerusalem’s major holy sites, including the church, are closed because of the ongoing Iran war, as the city has come under frequent fire from Iranian missiles. The Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem called the police decision “a manifestly unreasonable and grossly disproportionate measure.” It prevented two of the…

by Jeff Amy ATLANTA  — With Democrats steadily wiping out Republicans electorally in the core Atlanta counties of swing-state Georgia, Republicans have a new idea: Make most local candidates run for office without party labels. The Republican-majority Georgia House on Friday gave final passage to a bill that would require nonpartisan elections in the five most populous counties in metro Atlanta. Among officials affected would be Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, whom Republicans have repeatedly targeted because of her prosecution of Republican President Donald Trump after he pushed to overturn Democrat Joe Biden’s key win in Georgia in 2020.…

by Nicole Winfield ROME  — Pope Leo XIV said Sunday that God doesn’t listen to the prayers of those who make war or cite God to justify their violence, as he prayed especially for Christians in the Middle East during a Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square. With the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran entering its second month and Russia’s ongoing campaign in Ukraine, Leo dedicated his Palm Sunday homily to his insistence that God is the “king of peace” who rejects violence. “Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one…